


The Black Hourglass

by AzuraStark_Laufeyson



Series: The Sacred Artifacts Quadrilogy [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2019-09-22 19:08:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17065433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzuraStark_Laufeyson/pseuds/AzuraStark_Laufeyson





	1. The Creation

The heavens were shining as someone was going through their library trying to create something. The person had failed many times over and over. He knew that the creation of the Elemental Stone went well and he wanted to create his own. He stayed awake night after night until he finally found a spell to control time. He knew of the Time Stone but this was going to be on a grander scale. He began drawing ideas for what he could use to contain the spell and he came up with a hourglass and asked a local glassblower to make it. The base was black while the handles were snakes that were also black. He even found black sand and he recited the spell. The creation of the hourglass was finished and he wanted to give it a test run but he was assassinated before he could get a chance.   
The owners have called it the Black Hourglass for its cursed appearance and it went from owner to owner throughout time until it came into the hands of someone worse than the Collector and the Grandmaster combined and he kept it in a special cabinet. He also kept a collection of the rarest people in the universe but there was one that escaped him. The Animorph was the only one missing from his collection and he knew of where to find one. Meanwhile, two five-year-olds were rushing to wake up their relatives. They went to wake up their Uncle Thor first.  
“Wake up, Uncle Thor!” Frigga said when she took a running leap and landed on her uncle’s chest.  
“Oh, no!” the God of Thunder said playfully “I’m being attacked by fierce warriors!”  
“Wake up, Uncle!” Vali said also taking a leap  
“Ambush!” he playfully cried which in turn caused their parents to come running in a panic.   
“Good morning.” he said   
“I thought you were being attacked.” their mother, Azura said while retracting her claws  
“Don’t scare me like that, you big oaf.” their father, Loki said and his brother grinned. During breakfast, they were visited by Stephen and he looked like he’d seen a ghost.  
“We may have found another one.” he said grimly   
“Another one what?” Tony asked   
“Another item just like the Elemental Stone.” Stephen said   
“Great.” Steve said in annoyance and they went to do some research on the new item. Azura was teaching the twins on how to use their Animorph abilities. She transformed into a black cat and sat down to see if they can do it too. They did but Frigga was more fluffier than her brother.   
“Very good for your first transformation, I’m impressed.” Loki said and they transformed back into human form but Vali still had the ears and tail.   
“Concentrate and they’ll go away.” his father said and he did.   
“We finally found the item.” Tony said   
“You two stay here and listen to your uncle.” Azura said and they nodded. They hugged their parents goodbye and watched as they took off in the Quinjet. This was going to be a first for them since the twins weren’t with them. Tony assured them that everything was alright.


	2. Trouble in Tokyo

The Quinjet landed in the middle of the Arizona desert with a team of Tony, Steve, Bucky, Peter, Loki, and Azura.  
“Great, another desert.” Tony said “I hate deserts.” they did find shelter since Tony and Loki were having trouble with the heat. Azura transformed into her dragon form and created some shade with her wings.  
“Thanks, Kid.” Tony said and his reply was a rumbling growl. She fluttered her wings and Steve quickly sat up and realized that she was creating a slight snowfall. Even Natasha was enjoying the snowfall. She was even going with them on the mission. Azura’s tail started shaking like a rattlesnake and got into a defense stance. It was only a rabbit but her animalistic instincts kicked in and stalked the rabbit. She caught it easily and headed back to the group to light a fire. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed another rabbit and caught it with ease.  
“That was a little scary.” Steve said  
“I’m sorry, Steve.” she said hanging her head but Loki patted her side knowing that she was only doing what nature intended.  
“Soups on.” Tony said and Azura transformed back into human form.  
“Never had rabbit before.” Peter said  
“It’s good but a little gamey.” Azura said “Remind me to let you try either duck or lamb.”  
“Lamb?” Peter asked  
“I think I have a recipe for Irish lamb stew somewhere at the Compound.” she said. Bucky took out the fire and looked around. They found the hideout and they weren’t really impressed with it.  
“Some hideout.” Tony said jokingly and Azura shook her head in annoyance. They went inside and looked around.  
“First the desert, then a hideout that’s not really a hideout, and now a maze.” Steve said and the entire team froze when they heard something. They flattened themselves against the wall and waited for the thing to go away. Azura decided to change her eyes into a hawk’s so she can see up ahead and didn’t see anything. They got out of hiding and eventually got to a makeshift arena and looking up they saw the owner.  
“Greetings, I’m Orpheum.” he said with a flamboyant attitude and he held out the item that they were looking for. They all made a leap for it but he proved to be quicker than them and activated it. The Hourglass started to spin and it was sending the team to a point in time. The team landed but they all passed out on impact. Tony was the first to wake up and he was a little dumbstruck at what he was wearing. He was wearing red and gold robes that were meant for royalty.  
“What the hell am I wearing?” he asked and looked to see that Steve was waking up. He was wearing a blue set of samurai armor and was holding his head. Bucky also woke up to see that he was wearing a gray set of samurai armor.  
“Are we all here?” he asked and looked to see that Natasha was in a black and red kimono. Azura woke up to find herself in a kimono that was white with cherry blossoms on it.  
“I believe so.” she said and she watched as Loki stood up wearing a green ninja outfit. Peter woke up wearing a red and blue ninja suit.  
“Whoa, I’m a ninja!” he said and looked around to see that they were in a bamboo forest but they did manage to find shelter. It was a pagoda that was close to the river and went inside.  
“This should work for now.” Tony said and he tried to sit down but Azura helped him sit down and she sat down next to him. Steve and Bucky helped Natasha sit down and Peter tried to keep from laughing.  
“What’s so funny kid?” Tony asked  
“It’s just like those pictures of a royal family with the king and queen in the back and the princess in the front.” Peter said finally laughing and Azura playfully flipped her little brother off. Bucky started laughing that Peter was right. Azura just shook her head while Loki sat next to her.  
“We need to start looking for the Hourglass and hope it’ll bring us home.” Tony said  
“When do you want us to head out?” Steve asked  
“Whenever you guys can.” Tony replied and Peter got into a defensive stance since his Spidey sense was going haywire. A young girl was coming in and quickly ran off.  
“That was weird.” Bucky said and it got weirder when the girl came back with a village behind her.  
The girl was trying to say something but Loki was the only one that could understand her due to Allspeak.  
“She’s saying that this is a temple and her village thinks we’re gods in human form.” he said  
“Ok, so what do we do?” Peter asked  
“I guess we just stay here and let them treat us like gods.” Natasha said  
“What about the Black Hourglass?” Bucky asked  
“We’ll find that too once one of us have some free time.” Azura said and he nodded. The village let them stay in the temple. Tony did make translators for everyone when the village left them alone.  
“That was odd.” Steve said and then looked at Natasha’s kimono. He knew that her colors were black and red due to her codename being Black Widow. Azura on the other hand was thinking things through and noticed how odd the village was acting. Getting up, she walked over to the one of the walls and noticed paintings on the wall. Some were of the Kitsunes, nine-tailed foxes, tricking people, others were of dragons protecting the innocent, some were of the Oni, ogres that protected people. The were more but the one that made her blood run cold was a painting of a Jorōgumo, meaning spider-woman, seducing a man. She went back to the others and was extremely quiet.  
“You look like you’ve see a ghost.” Natasha said  
“This temple is home to what are called yokai.” Azura said “Creatures of Japanese mythology.” Peter’s eyes widened as he listened “Some are good and some are evil.” she continued “I saw paintings of them all over this place.”  
“What kinds are there?” Peter asked clearly interested in what she had to say.  
“There’s plenty.” she said “the Kitsunes are tricksters that take the form of foxes and the older they are, the more tails they have.” “There’s even one called the Yuki-onna, that looks like a beautiful woman dressed in white but she will freeze any strangers to death.” Peter shivered hearing that since he knew that spiders didn’t like the cold. Peter looked outside and saw that the village was busy with its daily duties. Azura borrowed a spare set of Loki’s ninja outfit so she can go searching for the Hourglass. Transforming into a raccoon dog, she slinked away and headed away from the temple. What she didn’t know was that she was being followed by a woman. Azura kept moving but she did stop to get something to eat. She continued on her way and as soon as she was away from the village, she transformed back into human form. Back at the temple, everyone was making sure that the village wasn’t going to come back and ask anything from them. This is taking too long she should be back by now Tony thought and as he was about to check on her, she came in through the side door while in her raccoon dog form. “Anything?” Steve asked and she shook her head “No, but I will try again tomorrow.” she said and transformed back into human form. The villagers were coming back just in time as she was straightening the kimono. They had brought dinner, although they weren’t sure on how to use choptsicks but due to Azura’s gentle teachings, they got the hang of it. One of the villagers showed them where they would be sleeping. He insisted that Tony and Natasha sleep in the same room, still thinking that they were married, and they listened. Although the others had to sleep in different rooms, this was not what they were expecting. Bucky knew that Loki always slept next to Azura since she was his anchor. The villager left and Peter kept a lookout while Loki snuck into Azura’s room. He crawled in next to her and in her sleep she turned to face him while wrapping her arms around him to let him know that he was safe. In the morning, he woke up to see her fast asleep but he didn’t want to wake her up just yet so he wrapped his arms around her to bring her closer. Listening to her heartbeat almost made him go back to sleep but luckily there was a knock on the door from Bucky saying that the villagers were on their way. She woke up and they went to see what they wanted. They left breakfast for them before leaving. Azura decided to take a different route this time and transformed into a mouse. She had an easier time scurrying by the village since no one would pay attention to something so small. She stayed as a mouse and did find the Hourglass but it was in the possession of a woman so she ran back as far as her legs could carry her. The others heard the squeaking and Peter ran outside and saw her standing on her hinds legs waving. He picked her up and brought her inside. “I found it, but someone has it.” she said as she sat on her haunches in Peter’s hand. The woman, who had found the Hourglass, was starting to become fond of Azura and as she smiled, her shadow grew to reveal that of a spider. The woman was going to have Azura one way or another. “We got news guys.” Tony said “What’s wrong Dad?” Azura asked as she rested with her head on Loki’s chest. “We only have two weeks to find this thing or else we’re stuck here.” Tony replied and Azura squeezed Loki’s hand out of shock. He rubbed her shoulder with his free hand and she settled back down. “Do you think someone has found it?” Peter asked a little unsure “It could be a possibility.” Steve said “Alright, then we go out and find it.” Tony said and they went out the next day. Azura followed her tracks from the day before and wasn't aware that she was being followed again. The Jorogumo was sneaking up on her and when she let her guard down, she jabbed her with her stinger making Azura's body go limp. Wrapping her up in a cocoon, the Jorogumo made its way back to its lair and waited. “Mr. Stark!” Peter called “We have a problem!” “What's wrong Peter?” he asked “I can't find Sis!” Peter said frantically and Loki's heart dropped into his stomach as fear sent a shiver up his spine. “We got to find her!” he said“First we need to figure out what took her.” Tony said and Peter looked at the wall with the murals on it. “Maybe that did.” Peter said pointing at the painting of the Jorōgumo “Possibility.” Bucky said “What do we know about it?” “Sis said that it takes the form of a woman,” Peter said, “but that's to hide the ugly spider hiding beneath the disguise.” “Ok, so it's a spider in a way.” Tony said “Where would spiders usually live?” “Usually somewhere dark.” Natasha said “There's a building not too far away.” Peter said and they headed in that direction. Azura had woken up from the sting and headed towards the exit. The Jorōgumo caught her again and stung her. She was wrapped up once again and the creature was about to rest when the team busted in. “Give me back my kid.” Tony said “You let my wife go.” Loki said and the Jorōgumo backhanded them all but they got up again and fought with everything they had. The creature was defeated and they looked to see cocoons hanging from the ceiling. “Hang on Sis, we'll get you out.” Peter said as he climbed up the wall to cut the cocoon down. He cut her loose and Loki was there to catch her in his arms. “It's ok kiddo we're gonna get you outta here.” Tony said as she was waking up “It's alright, love.” Loki said soothingly “You're safe now I'm here.” They got out and Tony checked to see if they weren't being followed while Loki still carried his wife in his arms. She fell asleep again now that she was safe and Peter was putting the Hourglass in his bag when it activated again and it sent them tumbling through another time stream.


	3. Wild Time

Azura woke up in a bed and looked around before going into a coughing fit. The noise woke up Loki, who was sleeping next to her.  
“Are you alright, love?” he asked worried  
“Yeah, I guess it’s just that I didn’t fully recover after Japan.” she said and placed a cool hand on her forehead. She did feel warm to the touch and that was a sign of a fever.  
“You have a slight fever, love.” he said “I’ll go find you some medicine.” she was about to get up too but he lightly pushed her back down. “You need rest, darling.” he said “I’ll be right back.” and he went to get dressed. His outfit consisted of black jeans, a green shirt, and a black duster. He sat on a chair next to the bed as he put a pair of black boots on. There was silver embroidered on each boot.   
Did he just put on Western clothes? She thought as he stood up and headed outside. Once outside, he could hear the clanging of metal and headed in that direction.  
“Do you have any medicine?” he asked and Tony Stark, dressed like a blacksmith with his Arc Reactor glowing, looked up to see his son-in-law standing in the doorway.  
“I should.” he said, “What’s going on?”  
“Azura has a slight fever.” Loki said  
“Sis is sick?” Peter asked dressed in a brown pair of jeans, a red shirt, and a brown duster. Loki nodded and Peter raced to find some medicine for her.  
“I guess she hasn’t recovered from Japan yet.” Tony said  
“That’s my guess as well.” Loki said as he found a place to sit down while he waited for Peter. Hearing footsteps caused them to look at the door to see Bucky running towards them. He was dressed in all blue but had a copper badge on his chest which caused Tony and Loki to snicker.  
“Shut up, you two.” Bucky said “We got a problem.”  
“Bigger than my kid being sick?” Tony asked  
“She’s sick?” Bucky asked and Peter came back with some medicine.  
“I got it.” he said and Bucky went to the sheriff’s office knowing that there was soup left. It was a beef stew with carrots, peas, and cabbage. Steve had woken up from sitting in his chair when he heard Bucky in the kitchen. He was wearing a lighter version of Bucky’s outfit but there was a sheriff’s badge on his chest, he looked out the window to see that Red’s Saloon was about to be busy. Red’s Saloon was owned by Natasha, who was wearing a black and red dress, and she was about to open up. She had a variety of drinks and she saw Peter run by the sheriff’s office. She opened the door and whistled getting Peter’s attention.  
“Sis is sick so I’m bringing her some medicine and Mr. Barnes is giving her some soup.” Peter said  
“Hang on.” Natasha said and went inside to get something for her to drink. She was thankful that Tony made an ice machine so she can keep the important drinks cold. She poured a glass of orange juice and handed it to Peter. Bucky carried the bowl of stew towards the little shack that was their home. Peter opened the door and looked around wondering where she could be.  
“Sis?” he called “Where are you?”  
“Over here, Squirt.” she called hoarsely and he saw that the bedroom door was open. The bedroom was on the ground floor and off to the left of the living room. He walked in and set the glass of orange juice down on the dresser and went to open the bottle of medicine.  
“Brought you some stew, Doll.” Bucky said  
“Thank you, Bucky.” she said she turned her head just as another coughing fit hit her. Tony and Loki made it to the shack and found everyone in the bedroom.  
“Hey, baby girl.” Tony said  
“Hey, Dad.” she said as Steve and Natasha came in. Bucky and Steve moved the dresser and Peter brought in more chairs for everyone to sit in before he helped the others move the bed with her still in it. Tony had brought an extra pillow so they can sit her up to make it easier for her to eat and drink. Taking the medicine, she waited a second before eating some stew.  
“You should cook more often, Steve.” she said “This is amazing.”  
“Thanks for the compliment, kiddo.” Steve said with a smile as she finished the stew and orange juice. She fell asleep and Bucky motioned that everyone move outside but at least keep the doors open just in case they were needed.  
“So, when are we now?” Steve asked and looked at how everyone was dressed  
“The wild west.” Tony said  
“Seriously?” Steve asked  
“My only explanation for the environment and the way we’re dressed.” Tony said  
“Do we still have the Hourglass?” Natasha asked and Peter looked in his bag  
“It fell out.” he said  
“It’s alright, Peter.” Tony said “It seems like that thing has a mind of its own.” Natasha told them that they were welcome to join her at her place to draw up ideas on how to get it back. Steve and Bucky went while Tony and Peter went to work on a way to track it. Loki went back inside to check on his wife. The medicine was working since she didn’t feel as hot as before. He fell asleep, still a little worried, and was having a bad dream.   
He was standing in the graveyard at a headstone that read “Azura Stark-Laufeyson” he had buried his wife here in this time. Tony, Peter, Natasha, Bucky, and Steve had stood as far back as they could to give him some privacy. Holding his hat in one hand, he couldn’t stop the tears that were streaming down his face.   
“I’m so sorry that I couldn’t do more for you,” he said, “I’m not sure how I’m going to live without you.” he covered his face for a second before continuing “You gave my life a new meaning and a purpose.” he said “I’ll always love you and I’ll miss you everyday.” he put his hat on and walks towards the others. He turned to look at the headstone “Goodbye, my dear wife.” he whispered.   
Loki woke up to see that she was still sleeping and let out a sigh of relief when he tried the mirror trick and saw that she was still breathing. He was full of adrenaline to go back to sleep so he decided to head over to Red’s Place to find that Steve and Bucky were still there.  
“Can’t sleep?” Bucky asked  
“No, I’m just too worried about her to sleep.” Loki said and Natasha gave him a glass of ginger ale knowing that his stomach was going to be upset. Steve could tell that he loved her with everything he had and worry was part of the married life. Tony came in and she gave him a glass of water.  
“I think I got the tracker working.” Tony said “How’s she doing?”  
“Better.” Loki said “Her fever’s finally breaking.” and they agreed on using the tracker in the morning. Peter had fallen asleep on the couch while checking on her and Loki couldn’t get upset since the Young Avenger was worried about her just as much as he was. Covering him up with his brown duster, Loki finally fell asleep once more. Only to be woken up again by the sound of breakfast cooking. In the kitchen, was Azura making brunch.  
“You should be in bed, love.” Loki said  
“I feel better see?” she said and he placed his hand on her forehead  
“You’re right.” he said and her fever was gone but she was still warm, it was an Animorph thing to have a slightly higher body temperature than normal, so she was fine.   
“You hungry, Squirt?” she asked  
“Starving.” Peter said and he joined them to eat brunch. Peter went back to help Tony finish getting the tracker ready when Natasha spotted a group of bandits coming through and she saw something glinting.  
They’ve got the Hourglass she thought and she signaled Steve who relayed it to Bucky through Morse code. They got the news to the others but they didn’t want to rush it cause they were worried that she might get sick again. She did help out in her dad’s shop which made the research go faster and Natasha had sandwiches and water for them in the saloon. At dusk, Loki sat on the roof of their shack and was stargazing. Azura joined him and he held her hand as they looked up at the darkening sky.  
“Looking for one in particular?” She asked  
“Yes.” Loki said “Mother.” and she looked up to see if she could find Frigga, her mother-in-law, and found her.  
“There she is.” she said and pointed to her  
“There she is.” Loki said “Thank you, love.”  
“You’re welcome.” she said and he started crying “What’s wrong?”  
“I just miss her and I wanted to tell her that I’m sorry.” Loki said as she wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. They both saw the constellation twinkle knowing that Frigga had heard them.  
“She’s really proud of you.” she said  
“All because you have made me a better person.” he said and kissed her forehead. They climbed down and walked inside so they can get some sleep. They fell asleep with her in his arms. The next morning, they were woken up by Peter knocking on the window. They got dressed and headed to Natasha’s saloon.  
“Good, everyone’s here.” Natasha said “Those bandits are a couple of days ride from here.”  
“You think you’re ready to travel?” Steve asked Azura  
“Yeah, let’s go get them.” she said and they headed to a barn that was on the side of Tony’s blacksmith shop. Tony opened the door and there were five horses. Azura morphed into her Peregrine falcon form and perched on Loki’s arm after he mounted his horse.   
“Alright, kiddo.” Tony said “You’re our eyes in the sky.” and she chirped before Loki let her go. They followed her as the five of them took off at the same time. Azura felt so much better as she flew and she did check to see if they were still following her. They did stop for the night and she morphed back into human form.  
“Whew, that was fun.” she said  
“I’m amazed at how quick you’ve recovered.” Bucky said  
“Can’t keep a Stark down.” Tony said grinning and they found the bandit’s camp. They hid on a hill that was in easily ambush range.  
“We got them if we can keep the element of surprise.” Steve said and Azura felt something crawling over her leg, she reached down hoping that it was a snake but it wasn’t. She screamed and threw it into the air, Loki turned it into a hawk and clamped a hand over her mouth.  
“What was that?” one bandit asked  
“Just a hawk, you dumbass.” another one said   
“That was close.” Tony whispered  
“Yeah.” Bucky said and he looked at Azura. She was still shaking but she was starting to calm down since her husband was by her side. He withdrew his hand and she was ready to continue the mission.   
“I think we might be outnumbered.” Steve said  
“When has that ever stopped us before?” Natasha asked  
“Point taken.” Steve said and they got into striking distance. They were a little outnumbered, but they did prevail and they were down to one left.  
“Alright, where’s the Hourglass?” Steve asked  
“The what?” the bandit asked  
“It’s an hourglass but it’s black.” Bucky said  
“Oh! That hourglass!” The bandit said “I don’t have it.”  
“Seriously?” Tony asked “He’s got to be lying.”  
“He’s not and I’m the God of Lies.” Loki said sensing that the guy was telling the truth  
“Alright, get this guy and his men in jail.” Tony said “Can you see if you can get the other one?” he asked Azura who nodded. Tony, Steve and Bucky managed to get the bandits tied up to the horses and headed back to town while Peter, Azura, Loki, and Natasha caught up with the other bandit. The bandit turned to see that he was being followed by a cheetah.  
“That’s not…” he started to say knowing that cheetahs don’t live in the West as she tackled him off of his horse.   
“Attagirl!” Natasha said and she even laughed as Azura sat on him  
“That’s my girl.” Loki said  
“Get this thing off of me.” the bandit said  
“Only if you tell us where the Hourglass is.” Natasha said   
“It’s in my bag.” he said and Natasha picked the bag up  
“Thank you.” she said and she made a clicking sound which told Azura to hop off “Good girl.” Tony and the others came back just as Natasha sent the horse with the bandit on it back to the town. Tony shook his head in disbelief as Peter was scratching Azura behind her ear.  
“Alright.” he said “Let’s hope this takes us home.” and Azura morphed back into human form.  
“Don’t jinx it.” she said and as soon as Tony opened the bag, the Hourglass starting turning.  
“Son of a bitch.” Tony said as it sent them through another time stream but this time instead of staying as a group, they were separated as soon as they hit the ground. The Hourglass landed a few feet away from Tony before being picked up by something and carried off but the creature lost it and it landed, unharmed, in the nest of something a lot bigger than what carried it off. This was going to their biggest time jump ever.


End file.
